Penny Opponents Look To Save Dollars And Cents.

I only posted the first of two pages, but the full article can be found here.

http://www.politico.com/news/storie...1/61442.html

The penny's value isn't quite what it used to be, which was never that much in the first place. It now costs more than a penny to manufacture one, with the coin's component metals -- primarily zinc, with a little copper -- becoming ever more expensive.

So with Congress this summer searching for every legitimate method of slashing the national budget and paying down trillions of dollars in debt, a small lobby of academics and politicos say there's no better time than now to finally sacrifice the humble, but costly cent.

"The penny has no functional use and is costing the country the country tens of millions a year to make," said former Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), who as a congressman last decade sponsored unsuccessful legislation advocating the coin's demise. "Doing away with it doesn't raise taxes and it doesn't eliminate services. That's a good deal."

Robert Whaples, chairman of Wake Forest University's economics department said, "the time is as ripe now as ever to once and for all get rid of the penny. Congress has to cut, and this is about as painless a cost-saver as there is."

The cost of making a penny has exceeded its face value for five consecutive fiscal years, reaching 1.79 cents in 2010, according to the U.S. Mint's most recent annual report, which also noted that the penny and nickel were produced at a loss of $42.6 million -- almost double the $22.0 million loss from fiscal year 2009. Mint records indicate the government has produced nearly 2.9 billion circulating pennies this year, through July.

Congress in 2010 ordered the Mint to research using alternative -- read: less expensive -- metals in coin production. The Mint next year must report to Congress its metal composition suggestions for coins, including the penny, spokesman Michael White said.

Could such metal meddling foreshadow even more change change?

Absolutely, says Jeff Gore, a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who, on the side, runs the special interest group Citizens for Retiring the Penny.

"The rising metal costs and the bad economy certainly provide a new opportunity for Congress to take a look at this issue," said Gore, who intends to redouble his anti-penny efforts. "I don't see immediate changes. But when we're spending money to make money, to me, it's a total no-brainer for them to move in the no-penny direction."

But what about the millions of financially struggling Americans who'd rather not round their purchase costs to the nearest nickel?

"With the economy as bad as it is, doing away with the penny is one of the worst things you could do to consumers," said Mark Weller, executive director of Americans for Common Cents, a pro-penny advocacy group. "There are certainly trends that have moved us away from cash and coin, but many people, particularly the poor, use cash as their primary means of payment, and such a change would disproportionately affect them."

The zinc industry, which primarily funds Americans for Common Cents and employs Weller as a lobbyist, has been particularly willing to put cash behind its penny preservation push.